4/30/08

We are not doing WIP Wednesday today because it is a very very very special day. Today is Morgan's Gotcha Day! Eight years ago today I met, fell in love with, and brought Morgan home to join our family.

I wanted a dog. Sweet Hubby wanted a dog. We were toying with the idea of adopting a retired racing Greyhound at the time, but the requirements to do so from the local agency were extremely stringent, making it almost impossible to get one. (Adopting a human baby is easier.) We fussed with it for 2 years. I really wanted a Greyhound, but at the same time, I was bothered by the size. Our home really isn't suited for a large inside dog, which any dog I owned would be-inside, that is. That, and the fact I don't really want to own a dog that can knock me down without trying hard. However, the Greyhound personality is perfect for our family. What to do?

One day I was scanning the Nicklesworth, in the pets section, and ran across an ad for an Italian Greyhound. I called, made an appointment to see him. On April 30th, 2000 I met Morgan.

His former owner was a young gal with, in my opinion, a monster for a husband. She'd had Morgan for a year. The husband ordered her to get rid of the dog or he would. Morgan was seriously underweight and scared to death of everything and everyone (though I didn't know about the last item until we got home). All I know is, she was telling me about how he was a retired champion, how she had to get him out of the house TODAY, and that he was afraid of strangers when we laid eyes on each other the first time. Those big brown sweet eyes. Morgan actually stood up, wagged his tail, and moved toward me, much to the owners surprise. He took to me immediately. I think he knew. I think he understood I was there to rescue him.

Soon, money changed hands, we loaded him and his luggage (crate, food, electric blanket, large manila envelope full of show ribbons) into the car and home we went.

Sweet Hubby was expecting a Greyhound when he got home from work. I had neglected to mention it was a tiny one. Heh heh. I wish you could have seen the look on his face when he saw Morgan. "I thought we were getting a big dog?" (Why is it that men want big dogs?) But he fell in love with Morgan just as quickly as I did, except for one little thing. Morgan wouldn't get anywhere near him.

Over the first couple weeks we began to realize Morgan had problems. He started having seizures. The vet figured out he was suffering from severe malnutrition. He'd been starved. I had to give him vitamin supplements for awhile. I also changed his food (the one that had come with him was horrible). Eventually, the seizures stopped and he's never had one since.

I never saw such a scared dog. He was afraid of feet, deathly afraid of men, I couldn't raise my hand in his presence cos he'd run and hide, sticks were terrifying, loud noises made him panic, and don't even think about bringing an umbrella into the room. He even ate in fear, grabbing a small mouthful of food, then running off to hide while chewing it. He didn't act like a dog. He acted like an animal that had the dog beaten out of him.

A few weeks later, some folks came to visit me at my shop. They were Morgans former neighbors. They'd gone to a lot of trouble to track me down. They wanted to tell me about Morgans life.

Morgan is a retired champion show dog. The former owner had bought him a year before from his breeder. One year with her completely changed his personality. He was severely abused. The neighbors told me all about what they saw going on. The husband truly was a monster. Some of it was so horrible I started to cry. How could anyone treat such a sweet little dog that way? No wonder he had problems. I went home and told all to Sweet Hubby.

I did some research on helping abused dogs. We began the task of repairing the damage that had been done to him. Over the years we have given Morgan all the love we can, and that has brought the dog out. He adores his Daddy, loves people, will sneak stuff out of the garbage can, chase birds, bark, and acts all dog now. He even stays by his bowl to chew his food. He's so different from when we first brought him home. He is still afraid of loud noises, and I can't even own an umbrella, but sticks no longer bother him and he doesn't live in a cloud of fear. He's happy, healthy, loving, and loved.

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY MORGAN!We're so happy you are in our family.

Speaking of family, yesterday I sat down in my favorite chair, the hug, to eat a piece of cheese. See what I have to put up with?

4/29/08

It was a beautiful day yesterday. Spring is definitely here. I played with my camera's ability to take close ups. Wow, I'm impressed. I had the lens as close as 1 inch away from this one.

Cherry Blossom Buds

I love moss. If you look at it up close, it's fascinating stuff.

Lime Fuzz

This tulip opened up yesterday. It's beautiful, but at the same time disappointing. Why? The package it came in said it was a package of much taller and more traditional pink and purple tulips. Not short, orange, and red. Ah, futz. Won't be buying bulbs at Walmart anymore.

Open to the Sun

Triad of Pollen

I know there are some beaders who read my blog (and I greatly appreciate that). So I thought I'd mention the new bead weaving swap I have signed up for. We are doing an earring swap. We can make up to 7 pair of earrings-all woven of course. No plain ol' stringing allowed. If you are interested in joining us, visit Pamys Bead Swap Yahoo Group, sign up, and join the fun.

The way Pamy's swaps work is we all bead something for it based on a theme, send the items to Pamy, the swap mom, along with some postage. She then mixes everything up and sends items back to all of us. For instance, in the last swap which we've just finished up (which I did not photograph my received items-hmmm, need to do that), the theme was purple. We could make up to 5 bead woven items, all had to be purple. I made 4 purple necklaces and 1 purple bracelet (all of which I did post on here) and sent them to Pamy. She then sent me 4 necklaces and a bracelet made by other swap members.

The swaps are a lot of fun. I've done 3 now (Spirals, Bracelets, Purple) and about to start on my 4th, Earrings. I like doing them because:

1) It's fun beading for someone else besides me.2) I get the opportunity to bead items I wouldn't necessarily wear but want to make.3) Gives me the opportunity to try new techniques.4) I get some really cool jewelry to add to my wardrobe that I didn't make.5) Chatting with my fellow swappees on the group forum is enjoyable.

You take your chances with a swap. It's a bit of a gamble. You might receive back something you wouldn't wear if a gun was to your head, is godawful ugly, or terribly made. But, to be honest, I have never had this happen. Everything I've received has been gorgeous. I admit, I have received a couple items that I wouldn't wear. My daughters took care of them for me (pounced like vultures, I tell you!). If they didn't, I'd have a couple gift items for friends.

Our swap mom takes photos of everything before sending them out and posting them in our swap albums. You can visit them to see some of the past projects we've done.

4/28/08

Had a bit of a scare this morning. My Tommy is a jumper. Sometimes we call him Tommy the Tigger cos he bounces on his hind legs just like Tigger does. If he knows he's gonna get food, he is behind me as I walk to the kitchen, bouncing along. He used to hit me in the shoulders with his front paws but I cured him of that. He can clear my shoulders when he gets really really excited. Well, this morning he was bouncing while I got his breakfast and hit a slippery spot on the linoleum. Wham!!

Arrgh....the scream of an Iggy will peel the skin right of a person. I thought for sure he'd broken his leg the way he was flapping around like a caught fish. Broken legs are my worst fear for my boys cos they are extremely painful to the dog, tend to not heal correctly, and cost a fortune to fix. (We're talkin' thousands of dollars) As it turned out, his legs are fine. He limped around a bit, then hunkered down to eat his breakfast. Now he's sunning himself in the back yard-normal as can be.

We had a beautiful weekend here at the Parkarosa. Saturday was sunny and warm. I spent the morning out on the deck finishing the Barbara Bretton novel, Someone Like You, I checked out from the library. I enjoyed it. It's a sweet love story about two sisters, 0ne who is a knitter. (Barbara is a knitter too.) I will probably read more of her books.

Sweet Hubby went running while I read. He is training for Bloomsday. This is an annual race held in Spokane, WA, which is just 30 miles from us. The last time he ran Bloomsday he was a young college kid. He's finding it to be a "bit" tougher this time around. He wanted me to join in--saying I could walk instead of run it cos that's what the majority of the entrants do, but I get claustrophobic walking in a dense crowd of 50,000 people. I'm gonna stay home and watch him on the tv.

In the afternoon we went to Dan and Sue's to try out Dan's new beer (he's a brew master) and hang out on the patio soaking sun and eating chips. It was nice to just sit and relax. Dan and Sue spent the morning tearing down most of what was left of the barn and hauling it away. Part of the barn collapsed several years ago from heavy snowfall. The rest collapsed this winter, from heavy snowfall. There is a wonderful view hiding behind that old barn. Surprised all of us.

Sunday was nice too, though it was cloudy most of the day. I decided to start the Honeybee Stole.

I bought the pattern and yarn for it last summer. I'm using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Laci in the Oregon Red Clover Honey colorway.

My ball winder won't wind a ball larger than 4 oz. and this is an 8oz. hank. I decided to hand-wind it into a ball so I could have one continuous strand of yarn. Less ends to weave in when the stole is done. I find weaving ends into lace a challenge. Ha! As it turned out, the hank wasn't one continuous strand anyway. I ended up with one large ball and 3 smaller balls. There were no knots. The yarn just ended. Then I'd have to dig around trying to find another end to start winding with. I'm not happy about that. Anyway, it took 3.5 hours to wind it up.

It took me over an hour to cast on 125 sts because I was trying to do the Provisional cast on, which I am terrible at. Eventually I gave up and did the Crochet Chain Provisional Cast On. After doing it that way I have to wonder why anyone would do it the other way?

I've done 6 rows so far. Now, the sun is shining, it's warm on the deck. I'm gonna go do some more rows.

4/26/08

Yarn: Opal sock yarn. Not sure, but I think it's one of the Elements colorways (couldn't find the label)

Needles: Size 2

Comments: A very fast knit. These don't look like what I expected. They're very cute, but how come they are so fat looking when the picture from the pattern shows them looking more like miniature adult socks? Will have to investigate this.

4/25/08

Thursday was a good day. I went to lunch with 'the gals'. After lunch my friend, Phyllis, and I went and hung out at the Silver Lake Mall for a couple hours. I was seeking an opportunity to use more of the gift card from C.J. Banks my family gave me for Christmas.

I don't know if men can relate to this, but I know women can. Every once in awhile I will run into a deal that actually gives my a high. There was the red velvet jacket I got for $3 last year. The pink/black hounds tooth slacks I got for $1.00 at Fashion Bug a few years ago (the manager wanted those pants OUT of her store!). I found a pair of very expensive mens slacks for Sweet Hubby for $4 once. There was the $180 silk dress I got for $11.00 in the early years of our marriage. There is something about finding these awesome deals that gives my whole body a wonderful thrill feeling that I would have to say is every bit as good as sex.

Well, I had one of those experiences yesterday. Our first stop at the mall was Sears, where I found this.

It's a gorgeous winter coat. Fits me like a dream. Looks good on me (which isn't easy with my fluffy body). Soft as butter and oh so comfy. Not only that, it's completely machine washable. It's made of that imitation suede Microfiber, which I love. The inside is lined with the softest fake fur I've ever felt in my life. Being naked in this coat is not out of the realm of possibility.

The white tag said $150. The pink tag next to it said $74.99. The sign above said "Take an extra 75% off marked price!" I paid $19 and change for this coat. WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!This one will keep me up there for awhile.

After I got home I looked out the window and saw this fellow. Isn't he beautiful?

Male Pheasant

I am amazed how well this pic turned out cos he was waaaay down the hill, he was running, and it was getting toward dark. Not only that, but I was taking it through a dirty window. Did I mention I love my camera?

Anyway, this fellow has been hangin' in my back yard for about 4 years now. I hear him all the time. He has an exceptionally loud and obnoxiously raucous call, and he loves to hear himself do it. I rarely see him though. He knows my cats on a first name basis, so he avoids the open area and stays hidden. Frequently I've heard his screeches and they've sounded so loud I know he's in the bushes right next to the house, but I can not see him. This site was a real treat.

I have come to accept that I will not have my Pomatomus socks done by the end of the month. I just haven't been working on them much. Don't even have the first one half done. However, I need to have something done for SAM5. Someone on Ravelry, who is in the same boat as I, reminded me baby socks count as long as they have a turned heel. So I whipped this up last night.

The real challenge will be making the second one match. Will be attempting that tonight.

Comments: Although I list the pattern above, to be honest, I have so completely changed this doll that it's a shadow of it's former self construction wise. I knit the head/body/tail all in one piece, in the round, so there would be no seaming. Along the way I found myself doing the usual "I think it would be better if I changed the stitch count to this, and the row count to that, and how about I inc/dec like this instead..." , not to mention she's knit in worsted weight (or 2 strands of sport) yarn. The original design doesn't have a nose either.

I love her. That's all there is to it. Anyone who gets to have purple hair has got to be cool! Actually, I had not planned on purple hair to start. I couldn't find any yarn I liked in 'normal' hair colors in the stash last night, and didn't want to wait until the next club meeting to finish her. I had the thought "This is for a little girl. What do little girls like?" Taking a cue from the many Pretty Ponies my daughters had when they were little, I chose light purple.

Supposed to be nice weather this weekend, then a return to snow. So, just what is the penalty for hiring a hit man to take out the weather man (or the Snow Fates, for that matter)?

4/23/08

Well, at least they're alive. I used something different to sprout these. I bought one of those Jiffy Peat Pellet seed starter kits. It took over 3 weeks for the seeds to sprout, instead of the usual 7-10 days. Only half of them sprouted. The growth of the seedlings is remarkably slow. I won't be using them again. I will go back to using Miracle Grow potting soil and good old fashioned yogurt containers with a hole punched in the bottom. Of course, the way things are going around here, trying to grow Tomatoes may be a complete joke.

Sweet Hubby left with his overnight bag this morning. The University of Idaho asked him to be on some kind of advisory board with faculty in the computer science department. He's heading down to Moscow to attend various meetings. He'll be back tomorrow night. It's kind of an honor for them to do this. He's very pleased. He's been wanting to get involved in computer education in some way at the college level for quite some time. So many colleges are inadequate when it comes to preparing their Computer Science majors for the real world. Maybe he can help fix that.

4/22/08

I finished the branch fringe necklace today. I took it to Bead It and showed it to Gale. She likes it, so we'll be setting up a class. I wasn't exactly thrilled with it when I was done, but I've been wearing it and it's growing on me.

Necklace is 19 inches long with a Bali silver toggle clasp. Beads used are Japanese size 11 seeds in matte black, matte silver lined pink, and transparent a/b violet. I'm thinking about writing it up and posting it on the pattern blog, if anyone is interested, that is.

It snowed pretty much the whole day yesterday. At one point we had almost 2 inches of new snow. However, even though it snowed ALL day, by the time sunset rolled around we actually had less snow than we started with at the beginning of the day. It got up to all of 35F for the day too. So, how did it do that?

Our Spring, or lack thereof, is THE topic of conversation all over town. I even saw a reader board outside a bank that said "Spring has NOT Sprung" today on my way home from bead group. What I find most amazing about all this (besides the fact that the suicide rate has not climbed) is that the plants are actually waiting. Normally by now all the spring stuff is blooming. Flowering trees, tulips, daffodils, wild flowers, and whatnot are all over the place coloring up our world. But not this year. They're all still waiting, patiently, for the Snow Fates to get over themselves.

Oh yes, one more thing. I came across a web site featuring a rather unusual work of "art". I call it the Gas Station Cozy. It made me laugh. The purpose is to make a statement against the worlds dependence on oil. What I'd like to ask is did they use acrylic yarn? Inquiring minds want to know. Heh heh.

4/21/08

It's been snowing all day. Like I said so smuggly yesterday, the weather man was partly right. Got the day wrong. It's 35F degrees, on April 21, at 3:15 in the afternoon. Fortunately, the snow isn't amounting to anything.

Did I mention I also have a monstrous sinus headache? And I'm freezing cold.

I. need. a. hug.

Met Judy for 'knitting group' this morning. I had a good time. She's quite a nice chatterbox, and I enjoyed listening to her. She came up with some wonderful ideas on how to get my hardwood flooring without it being installed by Sweet Hubby. No, I really don't want him to install it. I want it professionally done.

Anyways, I got some knitting done while we chatted. All but about 10 rows are left to knit on Edaline and then I can assemble her (sew on her arms and whatnot).

Unfortunately, our little group will disband in May. Judy is going back to school, and I am loath to meet myself at Starbucks every week. I can meet with myself at home and save on gas.

I have been trying to get something going on Thursday mornings in Spirit Lake, but there are no takers, so I guess I'm gonna chuck the daytime knitting group idea for now and resign myself to knitting in solitude.

4/20/08

I like to learn something new every day. My father-in-law used to talk to me about that. He loved learning new things too. He was 79 when he passed away. He'd been learning just that morning-trying to figure out how to make a concrete dam on the creek in his back yard, came in to take his usual short morning nap, and peacefully passed away in his sleep. That was a lot of years ago. I still miss him.

This weekend I made carrot cake, with cream cheese frosting. I don't know why I don't make it more often. It's easy peasy to make, and it's one of my favorites to eat.

After Sweet Hubby ate his first piece he said something I never knew. Carrot cake is his favorite. 26 years of marriage, and I'm still learning new things about him. I will make Carrot cake more often.

I had plans to work on the book this morning. Those plans got shot down last night when I unexpectedly found a tutorial on Turkish Loop Crochet. I ended up spending the morning searching for more info on this interesting bead crochet technique. There isn't much else out there, at least, in english anyway. I'm kind of wishing I could read German, or Turkish, now. There's probably loads of info in those languages. I want to try this out in the worst way. Need to visit the bead store first. (Yahoo!)

I received several of the books I ordered yesterday. Both Joy Gammon books have arrived, and I am happy happy happy. They are stuffed with cute patterns.

Knitted Cats is a two part book.If you flip it over , it's Knitted Dogs.

I'm kind of disappointed in one of the crochet toy books. The patterns are for very small toys and I like to make them a little bigger. They aren't very cute either. At least, not to me. I'm sure others will find them adorable (like daughter Sarah).

But the other one has some awesomely cute patterns in it.

The most interesting of the books, though is Bead Crochet Snakes by Adele Rogers Recklies. I read the whole thing cover to cover this morning. It's about the history of Turkish Prisoner bead crochet that took place during World War I, as well as some history on bead crochet snakes in general. I had no idea about this until I read the book. I just bought it cos it sounded interesting. I guess it is! There are a few patterns too, which I need to try.

The weather man was partially right about the weekend weather. It did snow early Saturday morning. But it's been nice and dry since. In fact, the sun is shining today, though it isn't warm out. The arctic breeze coming from the north sucks all the heat out of the air.

4/18/08

All seems to be calmer amongst the animal brothers and sister on the Parkarosa this morning. Tommy avoids Silver like he has the plague. I got a little worried about him last night at bed time cos he seemed to be hurting quite a bit and one of the pokes had swollen up pretty big and was very ugly. I slathered it in Neosporin and this morning it looks much better. Tommy has several bruises showing now too. Poor little guy. Silver is skulking around and sulking cos he knows he's in "the dog house".

I'm not speaking to you!

Edaline is coming along. I finished her head and stuffed it. I think her face is cute.

I did try the Pooch yarn that I bought for her, but it's just a bit too thick and didn't look good, so I had to rip it out. I'm using 2 strands of sport Pompador yarn instead in shades of blue.

I took my first walk in the woods. I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to know if the Buttercups are up yet. It was a lot of work walking over there. The trail was not walkable. So I walked in the woods parallel to it. The snow is pretty deep in some parts, and in other parts there's no snow at all so I was skirting around snow islands to get there. Managed to get myself caught up in a couple patches of wild rose bushes. Ouch! Forgot how much their thorns hurt. The Buttercups are not up yet. In fact, there's still 4 inches of snow on top of them. I was exhausted when I got back to my chair, the Hug. I'm really sore this morning. As usual, I am out of shape after another long winter.

The weatherman says it's gonna snow tomorrow and Sunday. The sky is turning black with clouds and the wind is blowing. I think he's right.

4/17/08

It's been sunny, so I've been trying to multi-task by doing laundry and sitting out on the deck in the sun towork on Edaline. It's not particularly warm out. There's a very cold breeze blowing. But I'm wearing my mohair cardigan and it's keeping me nice and toasty. I came in about 3pm to have some lunch, and rotate the laundry (dryed into basket, washed into dryer, dirty into washer).

Unbeknown to all of us (that would be me and the dogs) Silver got on the couch and burrowed under a blanket. Last I'd seen him he was sound asleep on the cat tree. Besides that, Silver doesn't normally burrow in blankets.

Tommy, minding his own business and totally not knowing this, decided he was gonna jump up on the couch and burrow under the blanket. Silver took offense.

I dashed to grab Morgan at the first yelp. I did that cos Morgan attacks Tommy if he's done some major yelping. Believe me, he was doing some MAJOR yelping! In fact, he let loose the infamous Iggy Death Scream, guaranteed to give any Momma a heart attack.

I held onto Morgan while looking for something to throw at Silver to stop him from beating up Tommy. Geez! All that was near me was a pot holder. (No, don't ask why a pot holder was on the floor in the living room. I don't know the answer.) Too bad it wasn't a book. I nailed Silver right in the side of the head. The pot holder was enough though. He backed off and ran away. (I'll get him with a book later!)

I waited for Tommy to calm down (he yelped for a few minutes), then I let go of Morgan so I could attend to Tommy. He was bleeding pretty profusely. Initially, I thought I was gonna be taking an emergency run to the vet. It looked like a one inch long gash in his abdomen. I got some clean paper towels and mopped up some of the blood so I could see what the damage was.

Ha! Just tiny little pricks! There are 8 of them across his tummy, but they're so tiny I had to laugh. Way more blood than the injuries deserved. I got the bleeding stopped and slathered each prick with Neosporin (cat scratches become infected quite easily on thin skinned doggies). Tommy is lucky. Iggies are so darned thin skinned it could have been a lot worse.

I gave the boys a cookie. Nothing makes a doggy feel better than a nice cookie.

The injured party enjoys his cookie.

Now everyone is sleeping-both the cats and the dogs.

I finally sat down and drank a shot of Yazi to get my heart slowed down. All in all, I'm quite proud of myself. I didn't panic. I remained very calm through this whole thing. A year ago I'd have totally freaked out in this situation. I am making progress in my Panic Attack Anxiety Disorder management, and that is something to be very proud of.

Isn't this purty? Blooming today. The snow has shrunk back enough from the house that the patch of crocuses are no longer buried.

4/16/08

This weeks WIP's. Making slow progress on the Pomatomus sock. Gotta speed that up. Only half a month left to finish the whole pair.

I blame it on Ravelry and the MCY thread. I confess, I've been one of the train wreck addicts. It's been a very active thread of late, taking much of my time to keep up. I've started losing interest though. It has turned into something ugly.

Over the weekend someone logged on claiming to be a representative of the company wanting to make things right. They've asked repeatedly for folks with problems with their yarn to email them and they'll see about giving refunds. Unfortunately, that is not what the mob wants. The mob wants to know if Danielle is really dead, is there really a brother named Mike, who is Margaret, if they've filed for bankruptcy, what is the name of the representative (refuses to give it. Under the circumstances, I would too!), why isn't the dye set in the yarns, is Danielle really dead (yes, I know I've repeated that) ?. The issue is, if you feel you've been wronged by MCY with the product you received, they are offering to make it right. Everything else is immaterial. As far as I'm concerned, it's none of their business. I think if this representative appeared in person, there would be a lynching.

Humans. Gotta love 'em.

I made good progress on my branch fringe project at bead group yesterday, even though I didn't really bead much. I did not feel real good. My joints were so achy. I could hardly walk I was so stiff. My fingers just didn't want to do what my brain told them. It kind of hampered my creativity. Cindy was feeling the same way. We think it had something to do with the change in the barometric pressure or something. I am liking my necklace though. It's gonna be cool when it's done.

I ordered some books. There are a couple knit toy books that I thought I had in my library, but when I went and looked, I discovered I don't have them. I am surprised. I could have sworn I brought home my own copies when I got them into the shop cos they're wonderful books. Both are out of print, so I decided I better get them while they are still halfway reasonably priced. I've ordered Knitted Cats/Knitted Dogs by Joy Gammon and Knitted Toys Easy to Make by Joy Gammon

While looking for those, I came across a book by her that I'd not heard of, Garfield Knits. Don't know what it looks like or what's in it. Has to do with the famous cat cartoon character though, so there's bound to be something in it I like. I've ordered it.

If after receiving these I discover I do have them in my library (though I've gone through every book and they're not there.), I will have to find a way to get rid of them I guess.

Of course, when looking for books on Amazon.com, they always offer temptations. In this case, it was two crochet toy books and a crochet beaded snake book that got me. Argh, I'm such a sucker.

4/14/08

It's happened. The Snow Fates finally moved to Australia. It actually got up to 72F degrees at my house yesterday. It was WONDERFUL! Sweet Hubby and I spent as much time outside as we could. I sat at the table on the deck and worked on my book. Got the next pattern designed and started knitting it.

He puttered in the yard. He raked up all the pine cones and broken branches lying in the part of the lawn that is finally free of snow, and he raked and poked at the rest of the snow hoping to get it to melt faster. There was one little island of snow that he watched all weekend. Last night, when the last bit of it finally soaked into the ground he celebrated! Actually opened a beer to party. Urg.

We have a tremendous amount of snow in the front and side yards-as much as 4.5 feet deep in some spots. Yet other spots are bare and the grass is starting to grow. I attribute this to the drifting that occurred. Today, though, it's raining like crazy, and it's a warm rain. That should drop the remaining snow down considerably. It's supposed to rain all week. Hey, I am cool with that. Rain is so much better than snow.

Oh yes, one other thing. I should have taken a pic. Don't know why I didn't think to do so. A crocus sprouted yesterday, grew, and bloomed-all in one day. It's done blooming now. Whew! Glad I was home or I'd have missed it.

4/13/08

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day! It was sunny, clear, and 65F degrees. The air was sweet with the smell of pine. A real spring day.

HURRAY!!!

I think maybe Marguerite took the cold with her when she went home. Thanks Marguerite!

It was one of those days when you just can't stay in the house and do same old same old. I had to be out in the sun. So, when I checked the mailbox and discovered the sock yarn I won in the Fearless Fibers contest had arrived, I took it's picture while it hung in a tree. The yarn is beautiful. So soft! It's part Merino wool and part Tencel. It has a wonderful sheen to it that came out quite nicely in the sunshine.

The snow is retreating very quickly with all the warmth. It's so nice to see the grass again. I just sat in the sun and soaked for awhile. It felt so good!

Being so nice out, we couldn't stand to stay home. And since I was out of laundry detergent and whatnot, I said "Lets go to Costco." Whew! I think everyone in the county had the same idea. It was crowded.

While there I picked up a bouquet of flowers. They had a bouquet that I could not leave without. It has the most unusual color of roses in it I've ever seen.

There's also chrysanthemums, daisies, carnations, and half a dozen other flowers that I don't know the names of-all in shades of red and yellow. But it was the roses that are what attracted me to it.

Gorgeous!

I wonder what variety rose that is, and where can I get one for my yard??? Me WANTS!

Whew! I managed to escape that face scratch. (Just between you and me, she DOES suck her toes.) They are still sayin' today will be 70F. I think they just might be right this time. I'm gonna go drink my coffee out on the deck in that long awaited sunshine.

I discovered this bit of info while digging around her blog, Romancing the Yarn. I'm not one for Romance novels, but I decided the least I can do is read one of her books since she so generously and sweetly sent me my prize months later after I won it. I went to the library yesterday to get one, and they are ALL checked out (they're popular!). So I'm on the waiting list for the first one that comes in. Which title doesn't really matter since I'm not familiar with Barbara's work. Who knows? I might really enjoy it and then I'll have a whole new section at the library to read.

In addition to heading to the library, I also called my daughter Ruth about this. She wants to be a paid writer of fiction in the worst way. So having yarn from a real author elevates my status in her eyes. I think I will knit her a new pair of socks with this yarn.

In addition, something else cool happened. I'm not usually one to gush over/about celebrities (unless Pierce Brosnan were to show up at my door), but when it comes to authors, I really admire. I have a secret wish that I too could be getting paid to write-which is why I'm writing the book on beaded knitting.

Anyway, one of my most favorite authors is Monica Ferris. She has written a series of murder mysteries about a gal, Betsy Devonshire, who owns a needlework shop in a small town in Minnesota and keeps stumbling into situations where she is solving a murder. These books are by no means great literature, but very entertaining. I own the whole set, and am anxiously anticipating the next one to come out, Thai Die.

I've been reading Monica's blog, Killer Hobbies. The other day I left a comment. She emailed me. I have an email from Monica Ferris. Woot!

We had sunshine all day yesterday. It actually got above 50F degrees! I got to spend some time in it too. Course, with the snow melting fast, there's lots of snow mold laying around. So I woke up this morning feeling like death warmed over. That's okay. It's worth it. Today the sun is shining too, and it's supposed to be a little warmer than yesterday. I plan to sit out on the deck, in the sunshine, sucking up snow mold, and knitting.

The white spot is indeed a tomato sprout. Hurray!

Yes, yesterday was a very good day indeed.

The weather man is still telling us 70F degrees on Sunday. Heh heh...we'll see.

4/10/08

I am seeing signs of spring though. In the last 3 days our snow has melted quite a bit, even though it hasn't been what I'd call warm. It's been a 5 minute weather week. You know, the weather changes every 5 minutes. I've seen snow, hail, wind, rain, and sun all in an hour's time. Somehow, though, it's melting the snow. I've actually got patches of bare ground in the back yard, and I found a tulip sprout in one of my flower beds.

I've been holding out on y'all. About 6 weeks ago the purple side of my Phaleonopsis orchid started blooming.

The white side isn't. Blooming that is. It just tickles me pink that I can grow these and they actually bloom.

A couple weeks ago I planted some tomato seeds? Nothing sprouted. I was beginning to think I was going to have to replant them and give it a second try. However, I may have a sprout this morning. I will know for sure by this afternoon. I sure hope so.

Is that white spot a sprout?

Did I mention I've won a contest? Fearless Fibers had one last weekend. I've won a skein of her new sock yarn. It's a superwash wool, tencel, and nylon blend. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

I started another Mermaid yesterday. I'm severely altering the pattern though. I want to see if I can knit the head/body/tail all in one piece, in the round. So far so good. I've got the head/neck done and I'm working on the increases for the upper body. I'm having to work this part in the reverse of the pattern cos it starts at the waist and works toward the top of the head. I started with the top of the head and am working toward the waist. My only concern is that I'll somehow end up with the tail all off center and twisted.

Edaline's nose is a little smaller-buttony, and I put the eyes on now because when I get to the tail it will be a lot harder to do it then. So now Edaline is watching me while I knit. Kind of creepy.

4/9/08

Pomatomus is turning out to be a bit of a challenge. Not one of those easily memorized patterns that I can port around and knit without thinking about it. I like how the stitch pattern is looking in this yarn though.

I've been asked for a class on branch fringe, so I came up with this silly idea for a necklace. I got it started at bead group yesterday.

Lets see, Filbert is done, not feeling like working on Margaret Tudor. I need to cast on a new project. Will have to go dig in the pattern stash. Time for a new toy? Or a sweater? Hmmmm...can't decide.

4/8/08

Yesterday was a good day. First I went to knitting group, which is very small. Usually just me and Judy show up at the Starbucks near Kohl's in the north end of Coeur d'Alene on Monday's from 10am to Noon (a plug for the 'group' here). We met through Ravelry, wanted a daytime knit group (they're all evening groups around here), and decided to just start one. But this week we had a guest. Marguerite, of the Stitches of Violet blog, was in town visiting her son, so she came to our knit in. It was fun getting to talk to Marguerite in person. I worked on my Pomatomus sock.

Judy and Marguerite

Me and Marguerite-two Bloggers.

From the meeting we went to Boucle's, which is a yarn shop that used to be in downtown Coeur d'Alene but just recently moved more toward the center of town, rather than closing as originally planned. The shop just reopened yesterday so we had to put in an appearance and check out the new digs. It's in a little house now, and quite cute. I bought a Fiberspace pattern for a felted Sea Horse.

Then Marguerite and I went to lunch. We went to the White House in Post Falls, which is a wonderful Greek restaurant with a decidedly HEAVY garlic hand. You can smell it 5 blocks before you get to it-even if your nose is stuffed up by a cold (which mine isn't, by the way).

We both had the special, a spicy lamb sausage sandwich in Pita bread and they're infamous extremely garlicky pasta salad. It was delicious.

You take your first bite of the salad and think to yourself "Wow, that's a lot of garlic! Cough...!".

You take a 2nd bite and think "Wow, I didn't mistake that. It's a LOT of garlic. (eye's water a bit)"

You take a 3rd bite and think "My God! I've never had that much garlic in a salad in my life. I don't know if I can eat all this." (contemplate if your stomach can handle it, or if it's gonna suddenly spontaneously combust in a fiery cloud of garlic.)

After the 4th bite you realize you can't stop eating it. It's just so darned delicious! But my pores will be oozing garlic odor for weeks.

I enjoyed my visit with Marguerite. Only a good friend will give you a goodbye hug after eating that much garlic! Thanks for lunch Marguerite.

When I got home from lunch there was a package waiting for me. Some books I ordered from Needle Arts Book Shop in Canada had arrived. They are all written completely in Japanese, but the charts are so good I will have very little trouble figuring them out. There's lots of info on knitting from Japanese patterns on the web too.

I got this book cos I love the cover sweater. The Title in English is Lets Knit Series #11. Turns out, I love all the ones inside too.